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Parents fight minor hockey's residency rules

The red tape tethering young hockey players to the area where they live has prompted a Georgetown family to take a dramatic step.

Dwayne and Gwen Raddysh, parents of two hockey-playing sons, sold the family home and moved to Caledon to circumvent what they call unreasonable restrictions that would have prevented their boys from playing in the Greater Toronto Hockey League, where they want to be.

The parents of Aleks Rapp, 12, and his sister Victoria, 14, have denounced minor hockey residency rules. They have launched a human rights appeal for free movement of their hockey kids. (ANDREW WALLACE / TORONTO STAR)

Minor hockey residency rules, which restrict young players to their local organizations, are about to face an unprecedented legal challenge from angry families.

Raddysh is part of an appeal to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario in which 10 complainants – with more expected – argue that children are being discriminated against by residency rules based on gender and age.

Both Hockey Canada and the Ontario Hockey Federation are named.

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Glen McCurdie, senior director of member services for Hockey Canada, says there has never before been an appeal based on this premise. Neither McCurdie nor OHF executive director Phil McKee would comment on the complaints because they have yet to review them.

The tribunal must first decide if the complaint is within its jurisdiction; if it is, the tribunal will then give the named organizations – Hockey Canada and the OHF – 35 days to respond to the issues.

Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) rules say the Raddysh boys must play for the Halton Hurricanes or obtain waivers from Halton, Oakville and Brampton to play in the GTHL.

Darren, 13, has played on the Toronto Marlies for five seasons and Taylor, 11, has played for the Marlies for three years.

The boys had no problems until this season when the Hurricanes refused to let Taylor go. The family appealed that decision to both the OMHA and the OHF but were turned down.

Raddysh estimates he has unnecessarily spent $67,000 in the pursuit of happiness for his sons, but says the smiles on their faces are worth it.

"Our savings are gone," Gwen Raddysh says. "No one should have to go through this ... selling their house. Why don't (hockey executives) give their heads a shake?"

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Peter Kearney of Newmarket likes the convenience of his son Connor, 10, playing in the GTHL.

In his human rights appeal, he cites the current OHF residency regulations that prevent players who live outside the GTA from playing hockey in the Greater Toronto Hockey League.

Yet female players in the Ontario Women's Hockey Association can play on any team in the province and any player over 16 can choose to play junior hockey where there are no boundary issues.

"My 10-year-old son Connor has the same rights as my friend's daughters ... the freedom to play anywhere he chooses," Kearney says. "I pay $5,000 to $7,000 a year including gas, tournaments, hotels, registration and special training and he should be able to play where he wants."

Under OMHA rules, Connor must play for the York-Simcoe Express or obtain waivers from each of the six organizations between his hometown and the GTA to play in the GTHL.

Kearney has spent months and hundreds of dollars chasing the paperwork so his son could play for the Markham Majors. He is required to do this every two years.

"The arenas we play in for the Majors are mostly on the 407 corridor and easier to get to than those in the OMHA," he says.

The Rapp and Klack families live in the Halton Hurricanes' jurisdiction. Although their sons were released on a technicality for this season, the families dread going through the onerous exercise again when tryouts begin in April for the 2010/11 season.

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